Timeline for context:
1986: Born in El Paso, TX
~1992: Started playing with toy airplanes
1994: Won first place in my elementary school’s science fair competition, project titled: “Best Paper Airplane Design”
2003: Big year; my daughter was born
2005: Started studying business administration at El Paso Community College and The University of Texas at El Paso
2007: Changed majors to mechanical engineering
2010: Completed my undergraduate studies, earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering
2011: Started graduate school at The University of Texas at El Paso
2012: I get my first muscle-up
2013: Completed graduate school, earning an MS in Mechanical Engineering, moved to Tucson, AZ and got a job with Raytheon Company as a manufacturing engineer
2015: Started training for my private pilot’s license, got my first job as a college lecturer at Pima Community College
2017: Earned my private pilot’s license
2018: Quit my job and moved to San Diego, CA, started trading stock options regularly, started spending more time with my kid, started training for my instrument rating (IFR) to add to my pilot’s license, started teaching undergraduate engineering courses at National University (busy year!)
2019: Joined Toastmasters, I attended my first 10-day silent meditation retreat (Vipassana Meditation)
2020: COVID hits, I’m in quarantine and working from home full-time, I run my first long-distance run (15.91 miles)
2021: Moved back to West Texas, continue working from home. Completed my first marathon run, then 14 days later completed a second+ (27.58 miles) — both unofficial, started learning Portuguese
2022: Completed my first official marathon run, El Paso Marathon (unofficial time: 4:55, slow!)
About me:
I am obsessed with skill acquisition and creating cool things. I also enjoy flying airplanes, and pretty much anything that flies.
Engineering interests: Autonomy & Control, CFD, Experimental Methods, Data Science, Machine Learning & Deployment, and Manufacturing
Hobbies: Running, weight-lifting, drone videography, photography, and flying airplanes (twice as much)
More than anything, I want to inspire others by remaining anchored to my truth. I want to do the hard things, such as building, testing, and flying the next generation of flight vehicles, whether that be flying cars, drones, spaceships, if it flies – I’m stoked about it. We need to make more use of the third dimension, we need technology that is going to give us back more time.
History:
At the age of about eight, I decided that I was going to be a pilot. Of course at that age, I really had no idea what it ‘meant’ to be a pilot. In middle school, I was part of my school’s UIL (University Interscholastic League) and competed in the academic event of “Maps, Graphs & Charts” where we were tested on our ability to interpret maps and data charts. I loved it, coming in 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place in multiple district competitions.
With the normal growing pains and social pressure from the typical high school life, I became lost. After high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, having lost sight of my childhood dream. I took a gap year before starting college; when I got to college not knowing what I wanted to do, I picked a major that I thought would get me a decent paying job after college (I did have a kid to look after) – business administration. After sitting in multiple accounting classes, and trying to figure where on a ledger a debit was placed and where a credit was placed, I knew that this wasn’t for me.
After talking to a few insightful people, my mind was opened, I was introduced to the field of engineering. You mean I can actually be a part of building something that flies? Yes, I knew this was it for me. I became obsessed and fiercely focused on learning what a differential equation was and understanding the difference between forced vibration and free vibration. At the age of 24, I graduated from college, being the second in my family to earn a college degree, and the first to earn a science degree. Then, at the age of 27, I completed my graduate work and was offered a job with Raytheon Company – I was ecstatic.
For the next five years, I worked very hard to learn everything I could about building defense systems and more importantly I learned a great deal of the importance of emotional intelligence and team-work. Working on some of the most advanced defense systems in the world was truly a blessing, it taught me the importance of singular-focus, perseverance, grit, and hope. It was during this time that I read the book Mastery by Robert Greene, in which he stresses connecting with one’s “primal inclinations” to know what one should master; naturally, I was reminded of my childhood dream. I started training for my pilot’s license. I trained in Cessna 152, it was a small two-seater airplane with just enough shoulder room for my instructor and I – it was perfect. I earned my private pilot certificate (license) in 2017.
In 2018, at the age of 32, I decided that I wanted a change and I wanted to be closer to my kid (attachments can be quite strong), so I moved to San Diego. Determined to be a better pilot, I started training for my IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) rating. Also determined to work on my communication skills, I took a job as an adjunct professor and joined Toastmasters.
I want to learn and apply what I learn to create lots of cool things. I also want to have lots of fun while creating lots of interesting experiences. I want to share my blessings. I also want to connect with others, especially those that stretch themselves and are on a quest to be better human beings.
